Preah Vihear temple at the centre of border clashes between Thai and Cambodian troops

On Saturday 23 April UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged Cambodia and Thailand to enter into a formal ceasefire agreement and pursue a stable diplomatic solution to resolve the recent border clashes between the two countries. The fight ended the informal cease-fire agreed in February. On Thursday 28 April, as clashes with Thailand entered an eight day, Cambodia submitted a request to the International Court of Justice for an interpretation of its ruling in the 1962 decision. At that time the court uphold the submissions of Cambodia concerning sovereignty over Preah Vihear Temple. Despite the almost fifty year old ruling, the problem over the ownership of the land surrounding the ruins of the Khmer temple built up in the 10th century has never been resolved, with both countries lay claim to the disputed area. Tensions raised particularly since the temple was granted UN World Heritage status in 2008.